Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 3 would have the effect of deleting subsection (3) of the new section 6B. This would remove the provision that the chairperson and chief executive cannot be required to give an account before an Oireachtas committee about matters that have been or might be before a court or tribunal, as well as the resolution procedure - this is very important - that allows the High Court to settle whether an issue is indeed such an issue. Deputy Doherty's proposed amendment, No. 4, would simply remove the provision that the chairperson and chief executive cannot be required to give an account before an Oireachtas committee about matters that are, have been or might be before a court or tribunal, but leave the resolution mechanism via the High Court in place.

Section 12 inserts a new section to provide for appearances by the chairperson and chief executive officer before an Oireachtas committee other than the Committee of Public Accounts. Subsection (3) provides that a chairperson or chief executive does not have to account for any matter that has been, is or may be the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal. Subsections (4) and (7) deal with circumstances in which the chief executive or chairman takes one view and the committee takes another view. Therefore, the committee has to form this view. If the issues cannot be resolved, the High Court can be asked to decide on them. This is a standard legislative procedure in regard to this issue. I do not believe an exception should be made in respect of the NTMA.

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